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tv   Erin Burnett Out Front  CNN  September 9, 2013 8:00pm-9:01pm PDT

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president obama expected to address the nation tomorrow night in primetime. we will be here with perspective and analysis. i hope you liked the first edition of "ac360 later." we'll be back tomorrow night with another. see you then. and see you at 8:00 eastern with a regular edition of "ac360." tonight a special hour of cnn. >> do not use chemical weapons. >> president obama banking the full power of his office. >> we have to maintain this pressure which is why i'll still be speaking to the nation. >> on the eve of making his case to a skeptical american public the president sits down with cnn. >> is there anything that would stop an attack? >> sure.
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he could take over every single bit of his chemical weapons to the international community. >> did he stumble or stumble upon a third way out of the syrian "catch-22"? what does the president thing? and -- i'm not going to file on the motion to proceed. >> a test vote on syria pulled. if the confidence isn't there in the senate how much worse is it in the house? we'll ask a democrat who is still undecided. this is crisis in syria, "decision point." >> i'm jake tapper. welcome to this special hour, crisis in syria, decision point. who could have predict wed would be here. we have taken a sharp turn in the argument. it's less than 24 hours now before president obama speaks
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directly to the american people. a senior administration official says that he will still make the case for congress to authorize force in syria even after this happens. secretary of state john kerry on a trip to london was asked this about the assad regime. >> is there anything at this point that his government could do or offer that would stop an attack? >> sure. he could turn over every single bit of his chemical weapons to the international community in the next week. turned over, all of it. without delay, and allow a full and total accounting for that. but he isn't about to do it and it can't be done obviously. >> hold on a second. did we just hear secretary of state john kerry hypothesize his way into a potentially different solution. one person said that kerry made a major goof and went off
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script. but syria's ali russia suggested a plan for syria to hand over its chemical weapons to international control and the syrians said they would be open to it and we watched all day long as the administration seemed to publicly warm to the idea, culminating in the moment that president obama sat down in a chair opposite our own wolf blitzer. we'll show you his revealing interview and examine all of the implications with help of gloria borger and two others. but first mr. blitzer when you had a list of questions ready to ask president obama you probably had to scrap that list because of the events of the day. >> i had 15 brilliant questions ready to go. and they were all assuming there was going to be a crisis and vote and u.s. air strikes on
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targets in seyria and during th course of the day there is a realistic chance there could be a diplomatic solution to avert the need for military strikes and avert the vote that would authorize military force. >> you had to take in the events of the day and craft a different set of questions and give them to the president. >> we did. during the course of the day as we saw what was going on and as i heard officials publicly and privately begin to warm up, i said you know what, there may been an opening now to avert a war. let's show our viewers the interview in the white house today with the president. >> mr. president, thanks for joining us. >> thank you. >> this idea by secretary of state john kerry picked up by the russians, is it possible this could avert a military
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strike on syria? >> it's possible if it's real. i think it's a positive development when the russians and the syrians both make gestures towards dealing with these chemical weapons. this is what we've been asking for not just over the last week or month but the last couple of years. these chemical weapons pose a significant threat to all nations and the united states in particular. that's why 98% of humanity has said we don't use these. that protects our troops and it protects children like the ones we saw in the videos inside syria. it is a potentially positive development. i have to say it is unlikely we would have arrived at that point where there were public statements like that without a credible military threat to deal with the chemical weapons used inside syria. but we are going to run this to ground. and john kerry and the security
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team will engage with the russians to see if we can arrive at something enforceable and serious. one reason this may have a chance of success is that even syria's allies like iran detest chemical weapons. iran was the target of chemical weapons of saddam hussein. so we may be able to arrive at a consensus which doesn't solve the underlying problems of a civil war in syria. but it solves the problem i'm trying to work on right now. you don't have 400 children gassed by these chemical weapons. >> the secretary general of the u.n. says not only control the stockpile of weapons but destroy them. that's a lot better than deterring the syrians from going at and using these chemical weapons. >> absolutely.
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that's why we're going to take this seriously. but i have to consistently point out that we have not seen these kinds of gestures up until now. and in part, the fact that the u.s. administration and i have said we are serious about this, i think has prompted interesting conversations. and these are conversations that i've had directly with mr. putin when i was at the g-20 we had some time to discuss this and i believe that mr. putin does not see the use of chemical weapons as a good thing inside of syria or any place else. and so it's possible we can get a breakthrough but it's going to have to be followed up on and we don't want a stalling or delaying tactic to put off the pressure that we have on there right now. we have to maintain this pressure which is why i'll be speaking to the nation tomorrow about why this is important. >> is this bashar al assad's last chance? >> you know, i think that it is
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important for assad to understand that, you know, the chemical weapons ban which has been in place is one that the entire civilized world just about respects and observes. it's something that protects our troops, even when we're in the toughest war theaters from being threatened by these chemical weapons. it's something that protects women and children and civilians. these weapons by definition are indiscriminate. they don't just target someone in uniform. and i suspect that some of assad's allies recognize the mistake he made in using these weapons. it may be that he is under pressure from them as well. you know, again, this doesn't solve the underlying terrible conflict inside of syria. but if we can accomplish this limited goal without taking
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military action, that would be my preference. on the other hand, if we don't maintain and move forward with a credible threat of military pressure i don't think we will get the agreement i'd like to see. >> you are being seen on cnn and cnn international around the world including in damascus. if you are amenable to doing it, look into the camera and talk to president bashar al assad and tell him what he must do to avert a u.s. military strike. >> i don't need to talk into the camera. i suspect he has people who will be watching this. >> he is probably watching himself. >> we have been clear about what we expect, do not use the chemical weapons, control the chemical weapons and because we have seen assad's willingness to use the chemical weapons we are going to have to go further and give the international community assurances they will not be used
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at minimum making sure that international control over those chemical weapons takes place. that can be accomplished. and it does not solve the broader political situation. i would say to mr. assad, we need a political settlement so that you are not slaughtering your own people. and by the way encouraging some to engage in terrible behavior as well. what i'm thinking about right now is how do we make sure we can verify we do not have chemical weapons that can be used inside of syria but could drift outside of syria. >> he said in an interview with charlie rose that if you, the united states, attack and launch military support, expect anything. it sounds like a threat to the united states. >> mr. assad doesn't have a lot of capability. he has capability relative to
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children. he has capability relative to a -- an opposition that is still getting itself organized. and are not professional trained fighters. he doesn't have a credible means to threaten the united states. his allies, iran, and hezbollah could potentially engage in asymmetrical strikes against us. but the kind of threats they could pose against us are typical of the kind of threats we are dealing with around the world which is embassies that are being threatened, you know, u.s. personnel in the region. those are threats that we deal with on an ongoing basis. they are always of concern, obviously we saw the situation in yemen just a few weeks ago where we wanted to respond by getting some of our folks out of there. but the notion that mr. assad could significantly threaten the united states is just not the
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case. >> great interview with president obama. i have been writing down notes of things to talk about. so president obama, according to this interview, was talking to putin about this idea that i thought had been spontaneously voiced by secretary kerry. but it turns out it is something they were talking about? >> the president said when he was in the g-20 summit he and putin spoke about this in general terms about this idea. others outside of the government had been raising this idea for a while. and it was interesting because after the interview aired a white house official came over to me and said the president wanted to make a point of saying to you that in the course of that interview he did discuss this possibility in st. petersburg with putin. it was not just john kerry by himself waking up yesterday and the morning today and saying you know what, maybe this is an idea it's not realistic.
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>> he has been around the block a few times with things like this. doesn't that say to you this is not spontaneous and it is a choreographed dance? >> it says to me that this white house, "a," was looking for some way out of this. and this was an opportunity to -- because they don't want to do air strikes. they sensed they weren't going to get the vote especially in the house of representatives. and if the russians could help find a way out, the russians clearly came up and said here's the proposal and quickly the foreign minister of syria, he says, yeah, we'll do that. that's a great idea. >> but the two things are not mutually exclusive. while they may have been discussed behind closed doors i think that john kerry got a little out over his skis when he said this. and then of course the russians being smart and clever decided to tame him up on it within a
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nano second and you had a solution. >> that was an answer to a question at a press conference. are they saying this was so choreographed that this reporter was given this question? that's not what the administration was saying right after this exploded. the state department said that secretary kerry was just hypothesizing and answering a theoretical question. we the end of the day it's a brilliant idea that was floated and picked up. >> we like to think our government is so capable and organized they can craft these clever conspiracies to plant questions and get answers. but it doesn't works like that. >> no government is that capable. >> especially the way our government works with the gridlock. so what really happens here is that this is something that even an administration official acknowledges that kerry and his counter part have been talking
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about for quite some time and the president discussed with putin last week. so it was in the ether behind the scenes and when asked about it publicly kerry spoke it. >> that's what i meant about a -- >> the bottom line is now that it's out there they have these two tracks where they have to pursue this nonmilitary option because it's a possibility but the president is locked into giving a speech and moving forward and how do you get members to take a difficult vote. >> i have to get this in. wolf, if you want to say anything about your exhaustion -- >> i don't have to look into the camera. >> you don't have to look into the camera. but this is one of these confusing messages from the white house. he says he is determined to do military action and now he says he would rather not. something else he said in the
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interview was interesting. he said that syria really poses no credible threat to the united states. i think a lot of americans might hear that and say why are we -- >> he belittled their capability. they pose a threat to children. >> that was like a taunt in a locker room. >> he was clearly prepared for that. my own sense, as someone who has studied the middle east -- if bashar al assad says i stay in power and no u.s. attack on my positions no tomahawk missiles or air to ground missiles coming in from stealth bombers the only thing i have to do is what the russians want me to do and the iranians want me to do is give up the chemical weapons stockpiles. if i can do that and stay in power, it sounds like a good
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deal. certainly from the president's perspective if he doesn't have to give a vote and harry reed said we are delaying the vote. >> remember the show millionaire? it's a lifeline. >> we are going to let you go home and get some rest. we'll be right back after this. thank you so much. a special "decision point" crisis in syria. this man is about to be the millionth customer. would you mind if i go ahead of you? instead we had someone go ahead of him
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2013 north american car of the year. lease this cadillac ats for around $299 per month with premium care maintenance included. welcome back to crisis in syria, "decision point" let's turn to congress. the president is not confident he has the votes for military action in syria. the latest cnn count says that
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25 members of the house will say yes, 161 will vote no. and 239 are undecided. and in the senate, 25 will vote yes and 29 will not and 46 are undecided. and joining me on the hill, a senator who said he would be a no vote. senator harry reed pulled a vote that was supposed to be a test vote on this authorization. how do you think the results would have been in he held the vote on wednesday? >> i don't know. if you are the leader and hold the agenda and you pull the votes you generally don't have the votes but i don't know that for a fact. >> the president said he is not confident he has the votes do. you think the no votes are with the opposition? do you think this would not
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pass? >> you know, jake, i traveled my state for nine days and listened to every georgian that called me. never seen an issue before where more of the rank and file were more consistently in opposition. they don't worry about day once when the strike takes place. they worry about day two, three, and four. what happens if israel is hit? will there be boots on the ground? i think that uncertainty is the big problem for the administration. >> on the day that president obama announced he was going to seek congressional authorization you released a statement that said i support the use of military action in syria. if we fail to take action we are sending a signal to syria that they are accountable to no one. aren't you now saying that you're going to send a signal that they are accountable to no
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one? >> on the contrary we will hold them accountable. this is about the strategy proposed to us. this is not about the issue should we hold people accountable. and the fact that we are having this discussion there are talks of syria surrendering their chemical weapons. >> you would support this third way, the proposal from secretary john kerry if syria would give up their chemical weapons the u.s. would not attack. that's okay with you? >> if it's for real. i don't know it's for real yet. if is it it's a positive move forward. >> thank you, senator. >> let's bring back our panel. diana, that international view said to me and correct me if i'm wrong that, boy, do these guys not want to vote on this. >> i know you love political
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cartoons. the way i draw this is an escape hatch with everybody running for the escape hatch which is named russia right now. that is what happened inside the senate tonight. they are saying -- the democratic leadership told me absolutely this is about russia. this is real and they want to give it more time. that might be true. but what is also true, the vote simply do not seem to be there. they are not confident they can pass this. >> that's why reed -- >> they want to give it more time. the fact that johnny did a 180 after listening to his constituents is telling. i don't think that the president calculated into this whole idea that when they made this announcement members of congress were back home and people were hearing it in gas stations and supermarkets. that was a factor here. >> he should have called
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congress back immediately. >> i think the administration is looking for an offramp. it would be humiliating to this president as it was to david cameron to be voted down in either one house or both houses. it could be the end of his presidency if he were to be humiliated like this he would have a tough time on every single issue. and so when this solution came up, everybody jumped, even though i spoke to an intelligence source who said slow down, gloria, slow down on this one. we don't even know where half of their stashes of chemical weapons might be. do we want to start on that hunt for chemical weapons all over again? do we believe the syrians? do we believe the russians are serious about this? >> that's the question. we have spent so much time before this crisis talking about the russian-u.s. relationship and how bad it is and how the
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relationship between obama and putin has never been worse. and now all of a sudden, we're supposed to believe that vladimir putin is going to do the right thing and he's going to rein in bashar al assad. >> one of the spokespeople said trust by verify. they can't turn down the offer once he said they are going to endpaej th engage this. they have to take it seriously. there is no one who things this is an easy do. and the russians can't necessarily be trusted with. assad can't be trusted and it looks like a way to actually slow walk this whole process. go ahead. >> the one thing we should keep in mind that these votes in congress are not dead. they might not ultimately pass but they are not completely dead for the reason you just said and
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you just said. we don't know what is going to happen with russia. and they are keeping open the possibility that they will hold these votes. >> you will see it slowly move through congress for the authorization for military strike and see the slow progress of discussions on the diplomatic track with russia at the same time. >> what the president is going to say with congress if they come up with a vote is you need to back me. it was only the threat of force that got us to this place. >> at the same time, he is saying, but wait a minute, assad doesn't really have enough stuff to really strike back at us, which kind of hurts his own case. and i think he makes his case much more difficult tomorrow night. he's got to tell the american public we have to use force. on the other hand he doesn't seem to want to use force. and so this kind of am bifb lbi
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that we see, he was so strident two weeks ago and now there has been such a shift. i think that the public opinion has a hard time following him to a great degree. >> i think he has an incredibly difficult task tomorrow night. he has been as muddyed on this as anything. but he is in a bizarre position. he can make a very simple case tomorrow night for american exceptionalism. and it's odd that the president who has been accused of being an apologyist for american he can stand up for american exceptionalism. >> stay with me. >> lawmakers are getting an earful from the folks back for. will they vote for what their constituents want? we will have another congressman
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a. welcome back to our cnn special, crisis in syria "decision point" today president obama launched a media blitz across six networks. but we suddenly heard a commander-in-chief hopeful for a diplomatic solution. >> i have decided that the
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united states should take military action against syrian regime targets. if we can accomplish this limited goal without taking military action that would be my preference. >> just a few days. after careful deliberation we should take action. if we can accomplish it without taking action that would be my preference. joining us is the second highest ranking democrat on the house armed services committee. you have not firmly made up your mind. are mixed messages like what you heard we are taking action, i prefer not to take action. is that causing you a problem in making your decision? >> no, actually, the fact that there might a diplomatic way in which to end this crisis, as you all call it, i think is a great thing. i know that as we returned today in the house to vote for the
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first time since this all started. and there was a lot of discussion among members. there was actually a very upbeat feeling about maybe there's a way to -- to tamper down what is -- you know, what has really escalated here. so i think that is a welcome thing to the congress people. the mixed messages on the other hand, about, you had mentioned gloria, about the president's interview tonight saying, for example, well, syria can't come after us, they're not strong enough. well, you know, you go to war because you feel you have either been attacked or feel an imminent threat to you. his saying they can't really do anything to us i think kind of undercuts this issue of why we should be there. >> what do you want to hear from him tomorrow night? what does he need to say to sway
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you to vote yes? >> i have to have a better nexus, a better connection of why we need to basically attack this country. because when we send a missile in, that is an attack. that is -- you know, if you were sitting at home and somebody fired a bullet through your front window you would feel attacked. that's what we're talking about. what is the imminent danger to the united states? what is the national security issue? please outline for me. and for the american people so we understand why we have to set aside everything else we tried or should be trying and go straight to military tactics. >> you have been home in your district. what have you been hearing? are people supportive of this or are you hearing overwhelming opposition? if that is the case how hard would it be to vote against what
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your constituents want you to do? you are talking to someone who voted no for the iraq war. after i took that vote i received death threats. two years later it was you are right and we're so sorry. >> let's say you decided to vote for it and people are opposing it now. >> what i'm saying is that in this particular issue of putting our military at stake. i have a husband who is a retired colonel in the army and have a son who is in the army. when we talk about going to war, you shoot missiles in that's an act of war. so you have to be, you know -- i have to -- for me, i have to be able to look at a mom who loses a son or a daughter in a war, whether it's iraq, afghanistan
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or syria and say i'm sorry, there was nothing else i could do. i needed your child. >> doesn't sound like you're there yet. >> i'm not there yet. >> what should the punishment be for the use of chemical weapons? >> if the u.s. backs away. >> and we just remove his chemical weapons. is that punishment? >> well, i think it gives us where we want to be, which is to take those types -- that type of ability away from him. that's what the president has said. the president said he is using chemical weapons on his own people. that's not justified and we need to be able to stop him from doing that. deter him from doing that. if his chemical weapons are taken away and put in international hands or what have you then he cannot use them. >> our credibility is fine then given what youoccurred in the l
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few weeks. >> you come to the congress to take the hard votes. you don't come to the congress to take the easy votes. i have been there 17 years. i have been in on iraq war where everybody was beating the war drum. it's easier to vote for war. >> if you had to vote today how would you vote? >> right now if you ask me today i would have to say i'm leaning no. >> as someone who cast a no vote when the popular vote was yes with iraq. which was a tougher decision for you, iraq or syria? it sounds like you are where the population is and iraq was a tougher vote. >> iraq for me was easier because i understood in asking the questions and looking at the information that there was not wmd. i really -- >> you were against popular opinion. >> i understand that.
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but i knew that i -- i had a really good feel that they weren't there and therefore that was the right vote. this is a much more difficult one. because here, even though i made -- if i vote no and at least 95% of the people have been calling -- people have been calling and saying don't do this. there have been very few. i can count them on my hand phone calls or groups who have said do this. >> this time you are voting against your president and your own party. >> it's difficult not just of your party but of your country. and remember there are far more important things coming up on the docket. we are talking about whether the government gets shut down and food stamps for people who really need them. i need a strong president there. >> do you think you have -- >> we need to cut it off there. we are running out of time.
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thank you very much congresswoman sanchez. good luck with your vote. the rest of you stay here. that 3:00 a.m. phone call in the 2008 campaign just came in and it made president obama look weak. a closer look at how the president is being viewed during this crisis coming up next. peace of mind is important when you're running a successful business. so we provide it services you can rely on. with centurylink as your trusted it partner, you'll experience reliable uptime for the network and services you depend on. multi-layered security solutions keep your information safe, and secure. and responsive dedicated support meets your needs, and eases your mind. centurylink. your link to what's next. i got this. [thinking] is it that time? the son picks up the check?
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welcome back to crisis in syria "decision point." ed gillispie, a former bush senior adviser tweeted this out. clear now when the 3:00 a.m. call came, barack obama couldn't find his glasses knocked the phone off night stand, still reaching around for the receiver. that is an ad that hillary clinton ran against president obama. clinton went on to become the secretary of state under president obama. she is adding her voice to the syria debate. she stood by her old boss would explicitly calling for a strike. >> this discussion that has taken hold today about potential international control over syria's stockpiles only could take place in the context of a
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credible military threat by the united states. >> i want to bring back in our panel. jessica i want to start with you. we know that obviously former secretary clinton was going to be at the white house anyway. did she want to speak out on this? she has been quiet. >> i do know that the white house has been in constant contact with her. there have been ongoing discussions. it was just a matter of time before she had to speak on this. is it note worthy that she didn't explicitly endorse the idea of a strike. why should she? this is the same man who is partly in the oval office because he staked out his ground apart from her on the -- her position on iraq. and she is no longer a public servant and no longer has to take a position on syria and whether they should strike and she doesn't work in his
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administration and can't influence the outcome of any strike. >> and by the way she was for more robust action. >> she was. she talked to petraeus about arming the rebels. >> so if hillary clinton had been president, right, she might have armed the rebels a couple of years ago. >> of at least had been listened to a year ago. >> so you know, this story is so full of irony. it's president obama who is calling for the use of force and hillary clinton who was for more force and now has to back him. and the iraq war vote comes into this. so this whole story is seahaw shakespearean in an odd way. >> the 3:00 a.m. phone call came a long time ago when she was secretary of state and she argued to arm the rebels along
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with others in the administration and they were rebuffed. it just didn't happen. this is not, like, the phone rang and we woke up and said oh, my goodness, bashar al assad has chemical weapons. >> she is being the good soldier in the way she was when she was a member of the administration. >> and the national security adviser and ben rhoads tweeting out clinton's remarks this evening, getting them out there. very interesting. it's important for them to get her out there. >> get to have a word on administration officials tweeting so much. >> even tweeting policy statements. is this the new thing? is it appropriate? >> it is what it is as john mccain would say. >> susan rice and samantha power at the beginning of this whole crisis were tweeting about it before we heard from the
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president. >> but can they tweet a link to a statement from a website so it's more official. >> we were talking earlier in the show about how much of this was planned, secretary kerry talking about this plan "b" and the administration embracing it and one of my staff reminded me of this moment when vice president biden got over his skis on the issue of gay marriage. >> i am vice president of the united states of america. the president sets the policy. i am absolutely comfortable with the fact that men marrying men, women marrying women and heterosexual men and women are entitled to all the same civil liberties. >> that changed white house
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poll. is it it forced the president into action. i'm not saying it's the same as what happened with secretary john kerry today. but there is a similarity. someone saying and the administration ending up embracing it. >> exactly. that is why you get the sense right or not, fair or not, that there is some chaos and it something that makes -- never mind members of congress -- but the american public uncomfortable. when you have a trust deficit and a wariness, this kind of thing going guardrail to guardrail doesn't help. >> and the president changing policy two weeks ago. >> we have to sneak in a commercial break. coming up the president will address the nation tomorrow night. but what else can he say to sway public opinion? stay with us. [ male announcer ] this store knows how to handle a saturday crowd.
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welcome back. we are here one more time with our panel. it's time for our turning point in this special called "decision point" what does the president need to do to gain back momentum on syria in congress. gloria, what do you think the president needs to do?
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>> i don't think he's going to get a popular opinion surge. 20 points against him. but i think he has to define his mission and tell the american people if we were to strike how it would succeed and why it would matter and why he feels you need to punish assad for usi using chemical weapons. >> you were telling me that the white house is reaching out to republicans to find out what they want him to say. >> basically how do we speak republican? >> obama to republican -- republican to a obama dictionary. >> exactly. how do we convince them your message? they gave him suggestions but the kinds of people they are trying to turn are just not turnable. but i think it's news they called house republicans and
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these people told me for the first time ever to get advice. maybe that is a breakthrough. >> i was talking to a republican lawmaker earlier today who said that he or she wants to support this. but, quote unquote, the president has made this a mess. there are republicans who want to support this. but they don't feel confident about the way this is all been developing. >> well, he can't, first of all express clearly what his position is and he can't lock into a decision. he keeps wiggling out of it. he should just pick a decision and stick with it. maybe what he should do is just let kerry pick his decision and go with whatever kerry says. maybe his solution is let kerry be kerry in this instance although don't let kerry define his language. >> when a president zigs and
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zags, it hurts his case. people don't think you're strong and decisive if you see you going to and fro. >> supporters will say he is looking for a way not to kill people. >> that is to be respected and that's to be lauded. but this whole thing has played out as an accidental solution here and people want to think that actually -- to jessica's point these things are thought out. >> we have to leave it right there. thank you so much. thank you all for watching. i'm jake tapper. catch me on "the lead" and i will be back here tomorrow at 11:00. up next, piers morgan live. yeah, we can make room. yeah. [ male announcer ] ...office space. yes, we're loving this communal seating. it's great. [ male announcer ] the best thing to share? a data plan. at&t mobile share for business. one bucket of data for everyone on the plan, unlimited talk and text on smart phones.
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new welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world. will john kerry take it, this is what he told wolf blitzer. >> is it possible this could avert a u.s. military strike on syria? >> it is possible if it real. and you know, i think it is certainly a positive development when the russians and the syrians both make gestures towards dealing with these chemical weapons. >> so does this change the equation? well, the president is telling everybody it just might. listen to what he said tonight on nbc.